


I Don't Mind Your Odd Behaviour

by Vacilando



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, M/M, but they're reunited and it feels so damn good, i have a lot of feelings and this is how i deal, i wish it could be a no one died fic but i failed, it's fluffy tho so its cool?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-27
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 20:04:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vacilando/pseuds/Vacilando
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So basically; Max the bulldog was pulling a tiny red wagon filled with flower crowns upon flower crowns around the Shatterdome with a note tied to his collar that simply said “Take One”. </p><p>And Raleigh was -for the lack of better term- stalking the bulldog. </p><p>or</p><p>The One Where Raleigh Becket Spent His Thursday Creeping On A Bulldog With A Wagon (and there are feelings and flowers and people will puke rainbows)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don't Mind Your Odd Behaviour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaara/gifts).



> Two things: This is for Kaara because it's her birthday and this entire account is really her fault. And this is the gratuitous self-filled prompt that I left in the meme asking for flower crowns and it's all Chuck Hansen's fault. 
> 
> Also, we need fluff or we will die of angst suffocation. 
> 
> (title taken from Mindy Gledhill's 'All About the Heart')

* * *

 

When Raleigh woke up that morning, he never could have guessed that three hours later at 8030 on a Thursday, a month after Pitfall he’d be creeping along the corridors of the Hong Kong Shatterdome because he was shadowing a bulldog.

A bulldog named Max, to be specific. And while he’s being specific, might as well throw it in there that the bulldog also happened to have a small red wagon attached to him with neat little harnesses. Raleigh could probably chalk off the red wagon as the result of a Striker techie gone off the deep end or took the new drinking on policy and ran with it, but really. Nothing could ever explain the cargo that the little red wagon contained.

They were, simply put, flower crowns.

So as recap; Max the bulldog was pulling a tiny red wagon filled with flower crowns upon flower crowns around the Shatterdome with a note tied to his collar that simply said _“Take One”._

And Raleigh was -for the lack of better term- stalking the bulldog.

What Raleigh witnessed throughout his very important Operation Flower Crown was nothing short of entertaining. He had noticed that while some just stared at Max as he tottered along, others actually stopped to pick a crown and honest to god placed them neatly on their heads before heading to their respective departments.

* * *

_1038 hours_

Raleigh tilted his head as he surveyed the almost empty corridor. Max’s little procession of flower crowns left a trail of petals all the way down the corridor where he continued to totter off to wherever he was heading. He gave himself a second to consider his options before he bent down to pick up the petals, one at a time and placed them carefully in the space his sweater made when he stretched the hem forward.

He had a lily of the valley in his hand when he heard footsteps coming from the opposite end of the corridor. In one swift move, he ducked and rolled into a cove and pressed himself against the wall, his arms a protective barrier around the petal-filled pouch.

“Well if I hadn’t thought he was bored before, then I’m damn sure he’s bored now.”

Raleigh peered from his hiding place and sure enough, spotted Herc as the new Marshall crouched down to pet Max’s head. Tendo, as far as he could see, had his hands in his pockets and looking as sharp as usual in his rockabilly get-up. He watched as Tendo bent to pick out a crown of gardenias from the wagon and after a brief calculating glint in his eyes, he casually dropped the crown onto Herc’s short-cropped hair while the pilot scratched behind Max’s ears.

“Suits you.” The techie grinned, his face soft and open. Raleigh ducked his head out of sight just as Herc stood and leaned into his old friend’s space, his cheeks burning. When he deemed it safe enough to sneak another look, he caught sight of the pair walking away with proper distance once again between them.

Tendo, Raleigh noticed, had a crown of primrose on his head.

* * *

_1405 hours_

By noon, Raleigh had begun to question the merit of his plan and his sanity as he continued to creep along the corridor and picking petals off the concrete floor. Looking at the route he was currently on, he concluded that Max would be heading towards the empty Jaeger hangar with his little flower shop behind him.

It was here that Raleigh hesitated.

His hand –the one wasn’t securing the hem of his sweater- raised to his chest, just over his heart and rubbed the familiar ache. The feeling of emptiness filled the cavity of his chest and for a while, Raleigh had to lean against a metal rack on the far side of the wall as he took in the huge hangar. He could still recall the sense of urgency he felt from around him the first time he stepped into the hangar, a little over a month ago. And now as he glanced around, all was almost –though not quite- calm.

As he walked up to the empty bays, the sharp grieve and dull ache of loss gave way to a battering of anger and regret and the never ending what-ifs. When he closed his eyes as he stood in front of Cherno’s bay, a thousand different scenarios assaulted him and all ended with the Kaidanovskys and WeiTang Clan safely ensconced in the Shatterdome with their respective crews, fighting over poor choice of music and being health hazards as they dribbled a basketball in the cafeteria.

A burst of loud Cantonese pierced his bubble and Raleigh threw a glance behind him.

In a circle of Crimson and Cherno’s crew, Max wagged his little stump of a tail as the humans around him showered him with pets and ear scratches. Raleigh’s lips twitched reluctantly into a smile as the crewmen and women shuffled through the flower crowns with bright faces, their laughter loud and delighted.

By the time Raleigh followed Max out of the hangar, the coldness and the ache in his chest had lessened.

And at the Crimson and Cherno’s work station, two identical crowns of pink carnations and rosemary are placed delicately on spare helmets.

* * *

_1520 hours_

Raleigh was convinced that by now the Shatterdome as a whole had decided to take his creepy puppy dog stalking act as some sort of coping mechanism and hence should be left alone. Not that he didn’t appreciate the politely averted glances, but if he has to deal with another offer of calling medical he will flip his shit.

He did, however, received a basket from a passing engineer in which he proceeded to dump all of the petals he collected thus far. Because his mother raised him a gentleman, he was properly thankful for the basket and chose to gallantly ignore the dainty baby pink ribbon that trailed softly from the basket handle as he walked.

Stalked.

Trailed.

Crept?

By the time he followed Max to the K-Science Division, he counted three crowns left in the wagon before the bulldog disappeared between the slightly opened doors of the labs. Having convinced himself that it was not, in fact, creepy to peek through the cracks, Raleigh settled himself into the classic hunched position of peeping and focused his eyes on the scientists.

Newt, as far as he could tell, was sitting crossed legged in front of Max as he fed the dog what Raleigh honestly hoped was _not_ kaiju entrails. Hermann had a sort of resigned look on his face when he rolled his chair right beside his lab partner, his cane placed diagonally on his knees. Squinting, Raleigh could just barely make out a small smile on the German scientist’s lips.

“Oh man, these must’ve cost a fortune.” Newt’s gleeful tone filled the lab as he scooped out a crown from the wagon and shoved it under Hermann’s nose. “Look! They’re real flowers! And fresh!”

“Yes, yes,” the older scientist grumbled, “Now get that thing out of my face before you give me allergies.”

“You have allergies?”

“No, but the principle of it stands that you should get that thing out of my face before I take your entire arm off.”

“You couldn’t even if you wanted to and I know you don’t want to, regardless the fact that you can’t so I shan’t take it out of your face.”

“Do you ever breathe, Newton or are you actually dead. Which if you are, you’re not doing a very good impression of a corpse.”

“I do too.”

“Do not.”

“I do too, Hermann.”

“Do not call me that or I’ll solve your not-dead problem.”

Sighing, Raleigh whistled low enough for Max to hear and wobbled towards him. When Raleigh closed the doors behind Max and his wagon, he caught a glimpse of pear blossoms on both the scientists’ heads.

* * *

_1555 hours_

“I thought they were joking when they said Ranger Becket was stalking Chuck Hansen’s dog.”

Raleigh grinned at Mako as she approached him, her face serene while her stride contradicted it by being purposeful and quietly powerful. He raised the dainty basket in all its pink ribbon glory and shook it gently. Mako’s delighted laughter filled the air as she moved her hands to catch the falling petals while Max nipped at her boots.

“These are lovely,” she said softly, her lips quirked and her finger tips working gently to feel the satiny texture of a peony petal. “Did you collect them?”

“Yeah,” Raleigh bowed his head bashfully. “Thought I’d save the cleaning crew the trouble since I was already stalking the little guy here,” He nudged his boot gently against Max’s side. “Want them?”

Mako tilted her head thoughtfully at Raleigh before smiling a little wider. “No, I think someone else would be interested in them.”

Raleigh for the life of him cannot fathom why he felt like he’s missing something and Mako had just given him the answer to some huge, potentially existential-related question he should be asking himself.

“You know, I’ve been wondering.” His lips pursed into a straight line as his brows furrowed. “I wonder if these crowns were made specifically with certain people in mind.”

“Is that so?” Mako's eyebrow raised and she pressed the peony petal to her lips to hide the beginning of a grin. “And why is that?”

“Because people kind of just- _know_ what to pick?” Raleigh huffed. “I mean, there’s a fair bit of daisies here you know, it’s pretty basic and general but I don’t know- I noticed certain people picking out certain kind of flowers and for some reason it fits them?”

“Ah,” his co-pilot nodded sagely as she picked up the last of the flower crown and placed it on her own head. “Like this one fits me?”

Raleigh took a minute to admire the bright dahlias and little snowdrops weaved in between the pink flowers. He nodded mutely as he reached out and tucked Mako’s blue highlight behind her ear.

“I think,” Mako pointedly looked to Raleigh’s left as the sound of wagon and tottering dog began to make their way down the corridors again. “That Max is going to collect your crown now. Why don’t you follow him and finish this little mission of yours?”

* * *

_1610 hours_

It took him awhile, but as soon as he stepped over the threshold and was assaulted with the sharp scent of sterile hospitals, he realized that he was walking down a very familiar hallway of the medical wing. His hand tightened around the handle of the basket while the other one mussed up his hair as a nervous tic that he –with a small slight pang when he realized- must have inherited from Yancy.

His feet and Max took him right to facing the one door he hasn’t had the courage to push open since that day a month ago, where all he did was folded himself into a hard plastic chair with his eyes closed and just listened to the heart monitor. Since then, Raleigh had avoided this part of the Shatterdome like the plague despite all Mako’s best efforts and the judgmental _‘I’m disappointed in you, Ranger’_ eyebrows he kept getting from Herc.

Raleigh glanced down at Max who scratched pointedly at the door and scowled. “You’re manipulative and devious and too smart for your own good and this is why I’m a cat person.”

With a deep breath, he rolled his shoulders back and twisted the handle.

He had no idea what he was expecting to see, but the sight of Chuck Hansen completely swamped with bouquets and bouquets of flowers and ‘ _Get Well Soon!’_ cards as he sat snugly against the pillows was definitely not it. The hospital bed was completely covered in clear plastic wrappings, crepe papers and ribbons. Flower stalks littered the floor around the bed with their leaves swishing slightly in the breeze that Raleigh made when he opened the door.

And Chuck?

Chuck himself was covered in errant flower petals of all manner of colours, from the tiny bells of lily of the valley in his hair to the honey suckles caught in the creases of his hospital gown. The evening sunlight that filtered through the window of his room caught the tiny dews on the flowers, showing that someone must have sprayed them with water earlier. But what caught Raleigh’s eyes –and his breath- was the way the golden rays casted across Chuck’s face that was locked in concentration as he delicately weaved a fresh crown in his lap.

“You going to stand there all day or are you actually going to say something?”

He should probably shoot a comeback at the asshole, but for the life of him Raleigh couldn’t understand why his body just wouldn’t respond to his command. He threw all caution to hell as he closed the door behind him and took small steps towards the bed, carefully avoiding Max who had by then started going around in circles trying to snap at the empty wagon behind him. Raleigh stopped just a hairbreadth from Chuck’s side before he carelessly dumped the contents of his basket over the Australian’s head.

He watched as the cacophony of colours rained and covered the younger pilot, his slightly bruised face slacked in shock and his eyes wide with amazement. The petals were everywhere; literally spilled all over the bed and some flew a short distance away as the breeze from the barely opened window caught them in a little dance.

In the midst of all that, Raleigh kept his eyes on Chuck and the way his face softened into something resembling a smile of the likes that Raleigh had never seen on that young face. For a heartbeat, he wished he could capture that look and that moment in all of its colourful, flowered glory. For just a fraction of a second, he allowed himself to think of the possibilities if he could just kicked himself into gear and say what he knew he had to say because surely this was in the works for a while if Herc’s ever increasing blood pressure was any indication and – _god-_ has Chuck’s lashes always been that long because he-

“That was uncalled for.”

Raleigh blinked.

“Sorry?”

“That move of upending a basket of petals on me,” Chuck scowled “That was uncalled for and the nurses are going to castrate you for the mess you made.”

“The nurses love me.” Raleigh waved his hand dismissively as he pulled up a chair and sat with a huff. “And if you were waiting for the perfect moment to make declarations or for me to start spouting things to put us out of our misery; that was it and it’s not coming back.”

“I have no idea what you’re on about.” Chuck intoned, his face unimpressed but for the slight colour in his cheeks. “Now make yourself useful and gimme that jonquil or kindly fuck off.”

Raleigh surveyed the carnage for a moment before he deftly picked out the tiny white flowers from their little pile by Chuck’s blanketed feet. His smirked at the grudgingly impressed look on Chuck’s face as he took the delicate blossom and weaved it into the impressive crown he was working on.

“My mother taught me.” Was all that Chuck said as he continued to fiddle with the blossoms. “Said that sometimes flowers can bring across messages better than any language.” He scoffed. “Reckon she thinks it’ll come useful for when I’m trying to get a girl or something.”

“Are you?” Raleigh mumbled, his fingers pulled free the pink ribbon from the emptied basket. “Trying to get a girl?”

Silence reigned for a heartbeat or two.

“You’re an idiot.”

Raleigh looked up at Chuck. The weight on his head was a telltale that the other man had dropped the completed crown onto his hair and now he’s watching Raleigh with expectation in his eyes. His mouth opened, but words wouldn’t come as he spazzed around a little, all sensitivity and public relations training doing nothing to help Raleigh as he tried to find the right words. Just as the beginnings of panic started to settle in, Chuck’s earlier words slammed to the front of his mind like a bullet train.

He broke eye contact with an embarrassingly strangled noise in his throat and made a quick work of searching the vast collection of flowers on the hospital bed, all the while feeling the burn of Chuck’s gaze.

He spotted the small purple flower under brightly coloured crepe papers, its little petals a little curled in on itself from the lack of care and slightly dry atmosphere of the air conditioned room. Slowly, he plucked the flower from under the papers and placed it in the middle of Chuck’s upturned palm. He waited with baited breath as Chuck quietly studied the ambrosia offered to him, his face closed off and his eyes casted down.

A huffed laughter was all the warning he got before Chuck damn well near tackled him in a kiss that was –frankly- long overdue.

* * *

_1800 hours_

When Mako poked her head through the doorway, she smiled at the two pilots curled up together on the hospital bed with Max huddled up in Raleigh’s empty basket on the floor. The little red wagon was parked neatly under the bed.

Raleigh, she was giddy to realize, was wearing a crown of red tulips and jonquil.

 

* * *

[Fanart](http://kaijugutz.tumblr.com/post/59514850595/quick-doodle-all-herp-derp-unedited-inspired-by) (partly) inspired by this fic  ~~omghowdidigetthislucky.~~  Everyone please show the artist some luurvveeeee :)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Significance and meanings pulled 100% from the internet, so don't shoot. 
> 
> Gardenia-You're Lovely, Secret Love
> 
> Primrose-Eternal Love
> 
> Pink carnation-I'll Never Forget You, Always On My Mind
> 
> Rosemary- Remembrance 
> 
> Pear Blossom-Lasting Friendship
> 
> Pink Dahlia-Elegance and Dignity
> 
> Snowdrop- Consolation or Hope
> 
> Red Tulip-Declaration of Love
> 
> Jonquil- Return My Affections
> 
> Ambrosia-Love Is Reciprocated


End file.
